SJC reviews plan to overhaul hiring practices

The Supreme Judicial Court has finished reviewing recommendations from a task force that was created to improve hiring practices in the judiciary

The task force, led by Boston lawyer L. Scott Harshbarger of Proskauer Rose, outlined actions that the SJC could take to ensure the fair hiring and promotion of court officers and associate court officers. The court received the task force’s plan last week.

The plan calls for restricting the consideration of recommendations for potential employees until finalists are selected for jobs, centralizing supervision of the hiring process and having annual performance evaluations.

Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland said in a prepared statement that the plan “identifies best practices that will allow us to increase transparency and public confidence in the way we recruit and select candidates for these key positions.”